Carmarthenshire Council has admitted that it could sell some of its buildings to raise funds in a bid to offset £12 million of annual funding cuts.

It was revealed last week that 143 council staff could be affected as part of proposals to close four council buildings - two sites in Carmarthen and two in Ammanford.

The council stress that no decision has been made on the future of the buildings, but admit that it is trying to identify savings across all departments in order to balance its books in the face of cuts to its revenue budget of £12 million per year for the next three years.

The ‘agile working’ report focused on a new way of working that would involve staff being less tied to one location, relying instead on IT to allow them to work more remotely or at different sites.

In the report, the four buildings mentioned were 5-8 Spilman Street in Carmarthen, the Rural Business Development Centre based in Nantyci, and the Old Library and Town Hall in Ammanford.

Ammanford Town Hall

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If the plans go ahead, the council-owned buildings could raise funds through sale or rental income that could reduce the impact of government cuts.

“The contents of the report are simply suggestions put forward by a working group of officers, aimed at saving the county council a great deal of money,” said the council’s deputy leader Mair Stephens.

“All the potential properties identified would be subject to further detailed assessment in terms of future use of the buildings and any movement of staff.”

A drop in the ocean

Despite the clear appetite to raise funds, Labour councillor Rob James said the savings that would be generated by closing council-owned buildings would be a “drop in the ocean” in the grand scheme of things.

“The long-term impact on our town centres and on local traders, should the executive board decide to continue with this policy, will be felt for many years,” said Mr James.

“Rather than abandoning our town centres, this council must support Carmarthen and Ammanford.”

5-8 Spilman Street in Carmarthen was one of the buildings mentioned in the report

The secretary of the Carmarthenshire branch of Unison, Mark Evans, says the union will vehemently oppose any plans to close the buildings mentioned, particularly those in Ammanford that could have a greater effect on staff.

“If these jobs are moved it will impact on many of our members' incomes and work-life balance,” he said.

“Everyday council employees spend money locally and the loss of these jobs in Ammanford will have a significant impact on local shops in the town centre.”

Unnecessary concern

Carmarthenshire Council has assured staff members that no redundancies will be made and that there are no concrete plans in place to sell off any of the buildings mentioned, with councillor David Jenkins insisting that, while options are being looked in an attempt to save money, no buildings would be disposed of without a consultation.

“As there have been no decisions taken to date,” said Mr Jenkins, “we would appeal to those people who are alarming the public with talk of this being something that is actually happening, instead of something that has not even been considered yet, to please stop and think before causing unnecessary concern to our hard working and loyal staff.”